Mixing entertainment with instantaneous buying, live commerce presents retailers, brands, and digital platforms a new channel with tremendous capacity for creating value.
Live commerce is fun and engaging, keeping watchers viewing longer and compressing customer decision journeys from awareness to purchase. Companies record conversion rates approaching 30 percent—up to ten times higher than in traditional e-commerce. In addition, live commerce (done well) increases a brand’s appeal and uniqueness and attracts additional web traffic. It can fortify positioning among existing customers and entice new ones.
In China, live commerce has revolutionized the retail industry and set up itself as a major sales channel in less than five years. While retailers overall in the West are still behind China in the pursuit of live commerce, early movers are also beginning to accumulate significant sales. How exactly this new channel will develop is still to be seen. What is certain is that it holds immense long-term potential for brands and e-commerce platforms alike. If China’s experience is any indication, our analysis suggests that live-commerce-initiated sales could account for as much as 10 to 20 percent of all e-commerce by 2026.